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Some of the most prominent lawyers in San Francisco, including two high-ranking judges, have launched a full-scale political campaign to protect Judge Richard Ulmer, a straight white former Republican and Schwarzenegger appointee, against a challenge by a gay Latino Democrat.

Among the Ulmer supporters, who have vowed to raise a substantial amount of money for the fall judicial election, are J. Anthony Kline, presiding justice of the state Court of Appeal in San Francisco and James McBride, presiding judge of the San Francisco Superior Court. They’re joined by a surprising number of leading liberal lawyers, including James Brosnahan, senior partner at Morrison and Foerster, Joe Cotchett, the widely known trial lawyer, and Sid Wolinsky, a founder of Disability Rights Advocates and a lifelong public interest attorney.

And John Burton, the chair of the California Democratic Party, is contacting members of the San Francisco County Central Committee to try to get that panel to rescind its endorsement of Ulmer’s opponent, Michael Nava.

It is, by any standard, an astonishing amount of political firepower for a local judicial race – and it’s all being done in the name of avoiding politicizing the judiciary. Read more »

San Francisco is now one step closer to becoming the first American city to implement a congestion pricing plan as the San Francisco County Transportation Authority staff prepares to present their final study findings to the Board of Supervisors this fall.Read more »

Oh Bay Bombers, won't you stop in your roller derby tracks and tell us how you've been? San Francisco's famed co-ed blocking, pivoting, jamming squadron has been packing ever-increasing crowds into Kezar Pavilion, their historical home this year – and no wonder, they're killing it on track. To tell us by just how much, we wrangled a phone interview with general manager Jim Fitzpatrick, who we last checked in with shortly before his home opening match with league Lucifer Georgia Hase's Brooklyn Red Devils.

For every awesome reality show (Real Housewives of New Jersey), there are dozens that feel forced and pointless (keeping it within Bravo, the Housewives network, anyone else seen that Work of Art show? Can you explain the point, or the appeal?) Into the "I'm already famous" sub-genre of reality shows (as opposed to the "I'll do anything to be famous" sub-genre) tumbles Growing Up Twisted, a new seven-part series that debuted this week on A&E. It's unclear if we have the success of Gene Simmons Family Jewels (also an A&E production) to thank for this, or if this is some kind of attempt to reclaim the glory that once was MTV's The Osbournes. If it's the latter, the world needs to realize that there's only one Ozzy (and only one Sharon, for that matter), and there will never be another Osbournes. Read more »

Hypocrisy hung thickly in the air at City Hall today as Mayor Gavin Newsom refused to responsively address glaring contradictions on a pair of high-profile policy stances, pursuing naked self interest while cloaking himself in deceptive but high-minded rhetoric. Newsom used the city budget-signing ceremony to effusively praise the labor unions that he publicly shamed into giving back $250 million over two years to balance the budget without tax increases, a budget that cut services and increased various fees and fines.Read more »

Here's a statistic that's guaranteed to get anti-immigrant groups seeing majorly red: A CNN poll found the 81 percent of those questioned support a program that would allow undocumented workers who have already been living in the country for a number of years to remain legally if they had a job and paid taxes. Read more »

The New Mission Theater, a dilapidated landmark that sits on the 2500 block of Mission Street, has been vacant for years, but controversy surrounding its fate is alive as ever and will be discussed at this afternoon's July 29 City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees meeting. Read more »

The Board of Supervisors found itself in the humiliating position July 27 of having to ask for the approval of Lennar and the city's Redevelopment Agency before it could amend Lennar's massive redevelopment plan for Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard.

If that's not an argument for reforming how this city approaches redevelopment, I don't know what is. Especially since the Board's meeting illustrated only too well how thoroughly Lennar's local executives, who used to work for the city under Mayor Willie Brown, understand this game and how to outfoxed any resistance to their ongoing effort to eat San Francisco whole. Read more »

Say that this morning, as you swept aside your window-sash, eager to let in the “warm” summer breezes that are so characteristic of late July in San Francisco, you saw there on your sill a fuzzy little bumblebee – dead, but for all the world looking like the embodiment of the grassy field and sunflower days of your youth. Now. Have you the instinct to preserve the furry fella in, say a diorama also featuring a map of your childhood favorite municipal park and a cut out image of you at eight, perhaps attired in a swatch of that kitty cat dress you couldn't bear to be apart from at the time? (Just sayin'.) If that sounds apt, have the local horticulture-taxidermy enthusiasts down at Paxton Gate got a class for you!

Mayor Gavin Newsom is seeking to be seated on the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee when it swears in newly elected members tonight, even though the body's legal counsel says he's not entitled to a seat and Newsom has put a measure of the November ballot that would prohibit local officials from serving on that body.Read more »

In today's episode, Johnny and Tim celebrate the court ruling on Arizona's immigration law -- and talk about how the right wing is going to respond. You can listen in and join the fun after the jump. Read more »